I know, I know...where in the world is Carmen Sandiego (Mateo)?

I did come back, go back, depending on where "you" are at; I travelled to SFO where Jordi picked me up and headed straight up to Truckee; actually stopped to load up on food on the way, boy I sure missed Trader Joe's all this time, the biggest problem in Spain is getting any organic food at a reasonable price . 

Three days later borrowed Jordi’s car, headed to Marin for 5 days to visit friends; it was a lighting visit because I didn’t want to leave Jordi without wheels for so long, weather was not exactly good conditions for riding a bike yet, as a matter of fact it had just started to snow, first of the season. Still, it was a very pleasant visit, was able to get caught up with a few friends. During girls night dinner, we were all so intrigued and fascinated with all of Noelle’s changes, that I left without updates on Zany or Dianne (except for seeing the sweet new digs...nice). 

 On my way back up to Truckee I stopped to see Robert, not sure if I mentioned this before, but he has adopted my smart car for a while, since his landrover bit the dust, and I know first hand what a shitty vehicle that is, if you ever have an inclination to get one...don’t; anyway, he happens to be an astrologer, and he’s been helping me gain a better insight as to what may be more favorable and to be more intuitive when the opportunity comes along in developing my new plan...you may want to call it a business plan, but I’m not quite sure if that’s the right name for it yet, but you can check out what I have so far in the images below:

Amongst friends, acquaintances or stories from others both here and there, a common denominator of people tired, frustrated, trapped in their current daily lives, wanting change, big change. I don’t have to tell you, most of us have been in the process of awakening, now we have to start moving. So I’m just including all of those things I would like to surrounded by, and we can all start trimming away, or…?

Back to the trip, I spent two more weeks with Jordi, before heading to Vancouver, the trip went well, but I was surprised that both planes (reno-seattle, seattle-vancouver) were old school propeller planes. In this photo you can see Mount Ranier to the right of the propeller. Adelina picked me up and we headed to Squamish.

Back in Barcelona, actually Premia de Mar, the beach town just 20 minutes north of the big city, life goes on, I resume my english teaching and more country line dancing, I actually just got back now, had to jump in the shower as I was totally drenched from dancing out in the sunshine at the Plaza de la Sardana. I’ve been realizing more and more how this dance style is improving my coordination overall, as I’ve been getting clumsy with age.

Although I did see my bread-making friend Jordi last Sunday, it was only briefly, and although he’s been getting less and less work, his mom took a turn for the worse while I was away, so she’s been staying with him, and he’s been driving her from doctor to doctor. She had been scheduled for the same eye surgery that my mom had last year, but the day before her back collapse, now Jordi is using electromagnetics while she sleeps to rebuild cartilage around her spine, which must be done every single day for three months he tells me, and she’s already on morphine pills. So the whole bread making has been put on hold.


In the meantime I've been working on cleaning out the junk room, in order to make room for Jordi and Dre. Dre is already here, to get some training at Barcelona's futbol club, so California can get some future Messi-like players. Jordi will here next week.

Maria Antonia

Happy New Year y’all!

Before I tell you about the recent activity, I just wanted to show you a couple of pictures from Monica’s imaginative hand crafted sweets, like the gnome muffin, or the sunbathing penguins. A charming small specialized bakery in old town Mataro, Monica called me for a single 2 hour conversation class, to help her out with a job interview with a plastic container company in another nearby town Dosrius. Once a lawyer in Argentina, much like our Green Home Center, she was able to leave the law business behind and realize her dream with these edible treats. It made me very sad to see this dream washed away like so many others, to have this talent go no where.

You may not remember Maria Antonia, but I did introduce you to her when we met during the Ebro river trip with Ecologistas en Accion, and we joined her again during the Entrevinas trip. This time she came to stay with us for a few days, actually we stayed at Jordi’s, then we drove up to the Costa Brava for a couple of days, as she had not yet been there. Maria Antonia is an organic grape grower, this year she and her daughter bottled a very limited number of bottles as they were finding a buyer, and have begun the certification process with flying colors. She brought one bottle for us, and it was excellent.

Our first stop was Sant Marti d’Empuries, which I remembered having visited the Museum of Roman artifacts and sculptures dug up on site. From the photo you can see a Roman wall by the shore, about 3000+ years old.

After a late lunch we headed towards Rosas, which despite being an extremely popular summer vacation town, giving name to the bay, I never cared for it because it was developed for mass tourism early on. The majority of visitors here are french, which became even more apparent when I crashed from my bike in a dark area while riding along the beach front, even     Berta (Jordi’s 11 year old daughter who also came along) was jokingly repeating “oh la la” afterwards. We stayed in a camping cabin, they call them bungalows, but they’re small cabins, and it was so cold, the heater wasn’t working well, and the blankets...well, they simply were not enough.

Early start next morning, 
even though we had bought enough food to eat in, we simply wanted to go find a warmer spot for breakfast. And of to Sant Pere Pescador, to the small delta formed where Fluvia River joins the Mediterranean Sea, surrounded by beautiful swamps; this is a favorite vacation spot for Jordi and his brothers. When we arrived, still cold, fabulous clouds in the sky, that suddenly changed as we were playing with paddle board, canoe and windsurf, the moment the sun came out, the powerful Tramontana, a wind that comes from the North.

We still managed to visit Pals and Tamariu before dark. Pals is another historical medieval walled castle on a hill town.
From the view point of Pals, a lovely scenery with the Medas Islands (similar to the Farallon Islands, as far as nature only place, however closer, making them easier to view).

And Tamariu is a typical Costa Brava beach, which fortunately like a few others, has not suffered the terrible over-construction others have, due to the narrow windy road that takes you there. And just like when I lived in Hermosa Beach, all these places are so much nicer in the winter, because in the summer these beaches are so full of vacationeers. 

Only 9 more days now, before I board a plane back to San Francisco, and you all know how excited I am to being around there with you guys... love you all!

Our Daily Bread

I guess that as my return date is quickly nearing, I have been slacking more so on communicating with y’all, and I’m beginning to wonder if my blog will come to an end. While I still am unsure of what, where and when my place will be in the near future, I still have to make some decisions, like: should I take the plane ride home?...home? I don’t know where that is now, I’m torn. But Marin is out of the question, as it is still too costly without a significant salary. But after so many years in such a beautiful area, it’s heartbreaking, however if nothing else, this past year has helped me realize, I can be here too, my old, old friendships are very strong, caring and helpful.

This is not to say that “shit happens” here too; I know I’ve only given you good, fun stuff, that there is plenty of, but there have been bumps along the way, finding a place to park my bags was not fun, I wanted to jump back on the plane when I was less than a week in, and that happened at least two more times since. I gave up completely on developing any kind of friendship with my (ex)husband, when I realized he was not the person I once knew, and has yet cared to communicate with me.I’ve also had some physical problems, stomach flu in March, flu in July, and recently a swollen molar, which I have not yet had time to check on because till just last week I was immobilized with serious lower back pain, that the physical therapist informed me that was the psoas muscle, and was caused by my three day bike trip. Apparently, if you don’t usually ride your bike, you’re supposed to take it on gradually and not go 3 intense full days. 

To resume, unless something (a great job) changes, the plan is to come right back for another year and give my new idea a chance. With this in mind, I will leave Wilbur here, visit friends and Dr Cory, go spend a couple of weeks in Tahoe with Jordi, and a few days in Squamish with Mom. And make the decision whether or not to sell my Smart car.

Are you wondering what “my new idea” is? Some of you may already know; while driving back from Logrono, Jorge was talking about the Coop that he started a month ago, a food coop delivering a “green basket” to 20+ families, started with 11 families, and every week someone new adds on. Anyhow, he would like to include organic breads, but nobody in the area near him (Vallles Oriental) makes it. So he suggested I do it, and the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.

So last Sunday morning, we drove up with a couple of people from his town, to www.vergeldelashadas.com a farm in the woods near Hostalrich, where our marvelous teacher, Adalu and her incredibly handy husband Santi taught us how to make bread, we made pizzas too with all kinds of organic toppings. And we took the breads home and they were more delicious, I guess because we made them.

I should be seeing Jorge tomorrow, in order to go to the “Ecologistas Convention”, I’m curious to see if it’s anything like the “Green Festival”. He told me he was going to buy some organic flour yesterday to start doing some samples on our own.

Meanwhile last night, I went with my girlfriends to see a surprise concert. It was a surprise cause none of us had seen this group or knew what they sounded like; and it was a treat, because the singer had a heavenly voice. The group is La Porta dels Somnis” ( the door of dreams).

Check them out...

EntreViñas

Logroño en Bici, the bike organization of that city, had put together a 3 day tour of the Rioja for their members, as this is harvest time, and when the leaves have turned red and yellow, which makes for a very colorful spectacle. 

50 people had signed up, however some of them also belong to Ecologistas en Accion, and since many of the Vive el Ebro group were interested, they allowed those people to sign up; so now 150 people were on board, more would have come, but the people in charge, lacking experience with large groups, were afraid to take on more.

I had left Wilbur behind with my friend Alicia, because this trip was bikes only, no support vehicle, and at a rate of 50 kms daily was too much for his paws. So Jorge and I took the van to Logroño, there was no sleeping provided for the first and last day, so we used the van; but first we headed over to Plaza del Mercado at 8pm, the meeting spot for a welcome critical mass throughout this gorgeous city. Followed by a little bar hoping, wine and tapas.

The next morning we gathered again at Plaza del Mercado, we received a little instruction and police escort to the beginning of the trail. Upon arriving at the first town of Oion, the group split 3 ways, one longer, harder route, climbing the sierra, second a shorter route, while the third was heading more direct to the final destination of the day, the medieval castle town of Laguardia, that just happened to be celebrating it's festivities. Jordi and I waited for Ana from Elche in Oion, as she was delayed due to loosing one of her wheels, on her drive up. By lunch time we landed in Yecora, where all the groups coincided, so the only local bar ran out of food. Luckily, most people carried some snack, besides stopping along the way to feed on grapes, figs, almonds, walnuts. Somehow along the way I ended up in the longer route, arrived at dusk to Laguardia, and showered with cold water. We all went out to enjoy the festivities.


Although I was still very tired in the morning, I was trying not to fall behind. I was dragging myself in order to make it to the Eguren Ugarte winery, however after the visit we enjoyed some wine tasting and a delicious chorizo sandwich, and I guess it must have given me a real boost, cause after that I was cruising along just fine, I even made it to Briones, another castle city, in time for a hot shower.


Last day back to Logroño, seemed not as hard, but definitely longer, and a feast for the eyes in it's entirety. There were no showers upon arrival, we changed when we got to the van, and went back to Plaza del Mercado to meet up with everyone again and do some typical bar hoping.

Before heading back home the next day, we took a 40km detour to visit another castle city, this time it was Olite, not far from Pamplona; this town had to spend a fortune on the reconstruction of this XIII century bastion, but it was definitely worth the trip.

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Magic Fountains

Back in 1969, while in Toronto living with my grandparents and uncle Victor, all were usually busy at work when I came home from school, occasionally I would forget my keys, and I’d squeeze my then skinny arm through the mail slot of our apartment door, reach up to unlock the door. I was not allowed to go out and play, the very few times I did, I would somehow get into trouble; so most of the time I watched from our eighth story window, while the others kids played below. The old  b&w tv we had, sat on top of an old faded yellow leather suitcase that sat flat on the floor, we didn’t have a sofa, we did have a couple of chairs and a small dining table, but I preferred sitting on the floor, the commercials were different versions of fun, kids and circus people enjoying peanut butter, which I had no idea what it might taste like, but everyone loved, as did the kids in my class at school. After months of begging, my grandmother surprised my with a small jar; I was so excited, my mouth watering, and when finally the peanut butter touched my tongue, my world crumbled around me, it was disgusting!, how was it possible? 

I remember one evening, we watched Ed Sullivan interviewing Robert Wagner, Ed asked the question: “if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?”...

I had asked myself that same question once in my life, about 15 years ago, and after much thought I answered myself: driving along Pacific Coast Highway with my friend Heather at the wheel, going nowhere in particular and enjoying a little toke.

Anyway, back to Robert, he answered: “on the steps of Montjuic in Barcelona watching the colored water fountains”...Oh boy! I was so excited, my grandmother too; but it was my grandfather who would take me there several times throughout my childhood and it was always such a treat, and it still is, actually now it’s even better, cause back in the 80’s they added music too. My grandfather told me the engineer Buigas, who designed the fountains, had died penny-less for lack of work afterwards.

I had been wanting to go for awhile now, so when Alicia called about going to the big city with her kids, be both agreed, let’s do it. 

A week after that I met Sandy, who hadn’t been back here since the 60’s, and I only got to spend part of one day with her, as I had to go to one of my classes and she had planned train/bus trip to Cadaques. We tried to take it easy, by not going too fast, but still, there’s so much to see that walking is the best way to get around, otherwise you miss a bunch. The one place she said she wanted to see is Parc Guell, which is a treat, except that it’s loaded with tourists. 

We walked up towards the mountain, through and stopped for lunch in Gracia neighborhood, ate a traditional catalan menu for 10 euros each, and went to the parc right after, around 4pm, usually not so crowded, and best before kids let out of school.